Peter c



P. C. REILLY.

STILL. APPLICATION FILED IIIIAII` 28. |914.

1,310,874. Patented July 22, 1919.

I I @gm @brot ncw PETER C. REILLY, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.A

STILL.

Speeiicationof Letters Patent.

Patented July 22, 1919.

Application led March 28, 1914. Serial No. 827,967.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, PETER C. REILLY, a citizen of the United States, Iresiding at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stills, of which the following is a specification. l

My present invention pertains to an improved still designedmore particularly for the distillation of coal tar, though susceptible of use for the distillationof other materials such, for instance, as petroleum.

The still in itssimplest form is disclosed in the annexed drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a longitudinal vertical sec-v tional elevation and v Fig. 2 a transverse sectional viewl thereof, on the line 2-2 of Fig.I ,1.

The main object of the invention is to pro-` vide a still in which coal-tar may be disof the still and its setting;

tilled so as to drive olf 'all the volatile por-- the upper portion of the still and carries ofi' the products which are formed, owing to the action of the heat, as is 'well understood. The fire-chamber is indicated by 5, and as will be noted is preferably located adjacent the front wall 6` of the housingrand over said fire chamber I provide a fire archy 7, the .products of combustion passing outwardly through a flue or opening 8, formed beneath said arch and the inner wall 9 of the fire chamber. The outlet for the products of combustion is indicated by 10, and, as will be noted, it is located in the rear wall of the housing, at the lower portion thereof, said opening discharging into a lateral Hue 11, which flue extends to a stack, which is not shown. In practice, a battery of stills is employed, the housings all being alike and the lateral flue 11 serving all of the stills. A re wall 12 guards the outlet 10,

lunobstructed interior.

said wall extending well upwardly toward the lower portion of the still Vso that the products of Vcombustion cannot passdirectly from the opening 8 to the outlet 10. Naturally the products of combustion being the hottest as they emanate from the opening 8, will rise and come into contact with the still. As noted, the still is spaced away from the wall of the housing throughout, and is supported b'y brackets 13 riveted to the sides of the still and resting in the.

brickwork or the walls of the still housing. Thus it will be seen that except for the relatively small area of contact of the manholes 2 and 3, the pipe 4, and the brackets 13, the still is suspended in space in the upper portion of the housing and is subjected on all sides to the products of combustion passing vfrom the furnace.

From an examination of the drawings, it will be noted that there are no pipes or lues extending into or through the still, and the same may be said to have a substantially or the like are carried into and through the still, there is a tendency for the carbon to deposit thereon, and to thereby impede the operation of the still. Once the carbon forms and remains upon the pipes or flues it is quite diflicult to remove it, and said members will burn out unless it be removed.

With a stillv thus constructed, housed and mounted I have been able to distill coal tar upon a large scale commercially, treating a charge of ,anywhere from i500 to 5000 gallons in a still approximately. seven feet in 'Where pipes, flues 'loy diameter by sixteen feet six inches long,

complete distillation being effected in from eighteen to thirty six hours, according to the nature of the coal tar being distilled. All the volatile portions of the charo'e will, within thetime above specified (wien the temperature is run up to 1000o F.) be driven oft' and the residue in the still takes the form of a dry coke, sponge-like in character, which is easily removed from the still.

During the first portion of the distillation of the coal tar (assuming that coal tar and not coal tar pitch is placed in the still), the operation is as usual; that is to say, the water followed by the light oils (phenol group) first passes over. vThe heavier oils then pass over, such oils containing naphthalene and the beginning of the anthracene. These are followed by the anthracene. Such products,

of course, are well known and commercially derived from coal tar. From this point on, l1owever,my method and operation are different from those heretofore known. Ordin n-arily,. where the heat is applied merelyto the under portion of the still, such portion ac quires at first a semi-solid deposit and finally a solidl deposit, practically dry, and to a large degree impervious to heat, so that the liquid mass lying above such coating or deposit cannot be reached by the heat applied to the bottom of the still. The residue or matter lying above such layer is still undistilled and contains a large quantity of volatile matter of a high specific gravity, which I have di `cdvered contains valuable material, parti( ularly for use as preserving compounds for the treatment of wood,'with the view of waterproofing the same.

With a still such as herein set forth -I am enabled. to produce a final or ultimate distillation of all the volatile portions, leaving a perfectly dry and easily removable coke.

This is due to the fact lthat the heat .isl applied to the entire, still surface, and when an oil is once separated it passes out of the still at on'c'e and there is no condensation of the material in the upper portion of the still and 'a consequent dropping back into the mass below,l as takes place in the commercial still of today.

The use of a still as herein set forth, not only produces-the materials above specified, .which have a high commercial value, but it is also -advantageous in the first distillation of jcoal tar to produce the ordinary products therefrom,in that the heat is applied to the entirestill, and the distillation is effected with rapidity and economy.

Ha ving thus described my invention, what I claim 1s:

1. In an apparatus for obtaining the products'of distillation of hydrocarbons, the combination of a metallic still adapted to contain the material to be treated, said still having 'a free outlet extending directly from the upperepart thereof; a furnace for applying heat thereto; and a housing for the still spaced away from and entirely surrounding the same, the arrangement being such that the products of combustion from the furnace may have free access 'to allportions of the still and the still therebysubjected to a substantially even temperature over its entire surface.

2. In an apparatus 'for obtaining the products of distillationof'hydrocarbons including coal tar and coal tar pitch, the combination of a metallic still having a substantially unobstructed interior and a free outlet eX- tending directly from the upper portion thereof; a furnace for applying heat thereto; a housing forthe still spaced away from andentirely surrounding the same whereby the products of combustion :from the furnace bination of a metallic still having a substantially unobstructed interior; a furnace located below the same adjacent one end thereof; a housing for the still located above the furnace and entirely surrounding the still and spaced away therefrom whereby the products of combustion emanating from the furnace may have free accessto the enltire exterior surface of the still; a manhole for charging the still; a manhole affording access to the lower portion of the still, whereby the, ultimate residue of distillation may be removed therefrom; a plurality of brackets extending from the still into the side walls of the housing; and a pipe for conveying the distillates from the still.

4. 1n an apparatus wherein a complete distillation of hydrocarbons suchl as coal tar, coal tar pitch andthe like may be effected, the combination of a metallic still adapted to contain the material to be treated, the walls of the still being of substan tially the same thicknessv throughout, said still having a free outlet extending directly from the upper part thereof; a furnace for applying heat thereto; and a housing for the still spaced away from and entirely surrounding the Same, the arrangement being such that the products of vcombustion from the furnace ma)T have free access to all portions Aof the still and the still and the contents thereof will 'be subjected to an even temperature throughout.

5. An apparatus wherein coal tar and coal tar pitch may 'be completely distilled to the point of production of a dry coke, which comprises, in combination, a metallic still adapted to contain the material to be treated, said stillhaving a free outlet extending directly from the upper part thereof; a housing for .the still entirely surrounding the; same, said housing being spaced away from the still so that approximatelythe entire surface is exposed; and a furnace, the parts being so proportioned -and arranged that the still will be subjected to an approximately even temperature over its entire surface.

6. An apparatus wherein coal tar vand coal tar pitch may. be completely distilled tothe point of production of dry coke, which comprises, in combination, a metallic still having a substantially unobstructed interior and adapted to contain the material to be treated, said still having a free outlet extending from the upper portion thereof; a housing for the still entirely surrounding the same, said housingbeing spaced away from the still so that approximately the entire still surface is exposed; 4and a furnace, the parts being so proportioned and arranged that the still will be subjected to an approximately even temperature over its entire surface.

7. In an apparatus for obtaining the products of distillation of hydrocarbons, the combination of a metallic still adapted to contain the material to be treated, said lstill having a free outlet; a furnace for applying heat thereto; and a housing for the still spaced away from and entirely surrounding the same, the arrangement being such that' the products of combustion from the furnace may have free access to all portions of the still and the still thereby subjected to a substantially even temperature over its entire surface. ,f

8. In an apparatus for obtaining the products of distillation of hydrocarbons, the combination of a metallic still adapted to contain the materials to be treated, saidstill having a free outlet and a substantiall unobstructed interior; a furnace for app ying heat thereto; and a housing for the still, spaced away from and entirelyv surrounding the same, the arrangement being such that the products of combustion from the furnace may have free access to all portions of the Istill and the still thereby subjected to a substantially even temperature over its entire a furnace for applying heat thereto; and a` housing foi` the Vstill spaced' away from and entirely surrounding the same, the arrangevment being such that the products of combustion from the furnace may have free access to all portions of the still and the still thereby subjected to a substantially even temperature over its entire surface. v

In ltestimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses.

PETER C. REILLY; Witnesses:

HORACE A. DODGE, BENNETT S. JONES. 

